"I am not too noble," she replied. "All that was best and noble in me died on the day you forsook me. And now, Lord Chandos, listen to me. Words of peace and pardon have passed between us. It has raised a heavy funeral pall from my life; it has, perhaps, raised a black cloud from yours. Lord Chandos, we must not meet again." "You cannot be so cruel, Leone. Having found you, how can I lose you again?" "You must, it is imperative," she said slowly. "But, Leone, why should we not be friends?" he said, gently. She laughed a hard, scornful laugh that struck him in the face like the sting of a sharp blade. "Friends?" she repeated. "Could we who have been wedded lovers ever be friends? You do not know what words mean if you think that." He stood before her with a stern, white face. "Leone," he cried, "are you really going to be cruel enough to send me away out of your life again, I who have been mad with joy at finding you?" "If I were cruel," she said, slowly, "now I would take my vengeance. I should say as you once left me so now I leave you, but I am not cruel, and that is my reason. My reason is a good and pure one; we could never remain friends, we love each other too much for that; we must live as strangers now; and remember, it is your fault, not mine." "I cannot submit to it," he cried. But she looked at him with a face stern, resolute, fixed as his own. "Remember, Lord Chandos," she said, "that I am my own mistress. I can choose my friends and associates. I refuse to admit you among the number." "You cannot prevent me from coming to see you, Leone." "No; but I can, and shall, refuse to see you when you come," she replied; "and I shall do so." "Oh, my love, my cruel, beautiful love," he cried. The girl's face flushed with hot anger and indignation. "Will you be silent?" she cried. "Shame on you, Lord Chandos, to use such words. You have a beautiful and beloved wife at home to whom all your love and fidelity belong. If you say one more such word to me I will never see you again." "But, Leone, it seems so very hard; you might let me call at times and see you." "No, I cannot, I cannot trust myself, even if I could trust you. I have had no other husband, no other love; you have married. I would not trust myself; my love is as great now as ever it was, but it shall not run away with me; it shall not be my master. I will master it. You must not come near me." "But, surely, if I meet you in the street, you will not ask me to pass you by?" he said. "No; if we meet quite by chance, quite by accident, I will always speak to you. Ah, Lance," she added, with a smile, "I know you so well, I know every look in your eyes; you are thinking to yourself you will often see me by accident. You must not; such honor as you have left me let me keep." "If this is to be our last interview, for some time, at least," he continued, "tell me, Leone, how is it that you have become so famous?"